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Sorry, I didn't see this note earlier.
I'm wondering what came out of the original question (a Nissan or
a Starion ?)
I'm owning an '83 Starion for nearly 7 years now and I'm so happy
with it, that I even went thru the pain to get it registered in
Switzerland when I moved from Austria to Geneva.
In my opinion, it's not comparable with the Nissan's. I agree with
the earlier reply saying it eats 200SX's for breakfast and the 300
is much heavier but with more torque and different handling.
I think the Starion is a dangerous machine if you push it to the
limit, the Nissan's may be handling more predictable.
BTW, someone mentioned the 2.6l model - that's not a Starion (in my
view, thats an American car desguised as a Japanese) It has less
power but more weight ...
The best model is the one with the 2l engine PLUS intercoole putting
out about 180HP (in Germany). I think the last production year was
88, maybe 87. Mine is the 2l without intercooler having 170HP and
you don't find this acceleration to a compareable price elsewhere.
For the handling, I attended some Ralley-Courses with it and I have
to admit, that it takes a lot of skills and anticipation to keep it
on the road and not spinning off. There are other cars much easier
to be controlled and showing more clearly to the driver whats up in
the next fraction of a second. I think the problem is weight
distribution, it lacks weight on the rear end and looses traction
very easy with the powerful turbo engine. E.g. if you're entering
a corner very "hot" you have to fight some understeer, once you're
in and applying power the thing swings around like a pendulum into
heavy oversteer. This behavior is influenced very much by the tyres
you're using and how slippery (snow, rain) the road is. In the
winter (and usually in Austria/Switzerland we have a lot of snow)
I even go sideways around corners in the city at 50km/h, its just
too much power at the rear with too less weight. This combined with
the turbo-lag and pretty sharp turbo kick makes it a bit dangerous
as said before. During the sessions on frozen lakes and iced parking
lots, even our instructor a former European Ralley Cross champion
spun out with my car several times until he got the gripe and told
me, how to overcome it. If you like this challenge then its OK,
otherwise dont try it.
For reliability, I know some other Starion owners counting their
replaced clutches and turbochargers and the like. The commonality
is, it depends on how you treat your car. So you should know the
behavior of the former owner when you buy it used.
My car has now 125000km on the clock, first engine, first turbo
second clutch, second set of brake pads (I don't brake too often ;^)
brake discs refurbished, second exhaust. The radiator is leaking
water somewhere, but couldn't find the hole yet. The oilpressure
is a bit low since half a year or so, but it doesn't need oil and
the performance is still good, so I don't mess around with opening
the engine. And after I replaced the second motor-driven antenna
I have enough of it and use now a windscreen type.
The treatment. This engine uses the old type of oil-cooled turbo,
it means you should NEVER shut down the hot engine (e.g. going long
and fast on a motorway, enter a petrol station and turning ignition
off - this kills the turbo). The turbo glows dark red, you stop the
engine - you stop the oilflow and the oil boils in the turbo bearings,
which will be "baked" to a standstill and damaged over time. So, let
the engine idle for a minute to allow the turbo to cool down and
spin slower befor you shut off everything.
For the clutch/gearbox problems. I found out, the gearbox doesn't
like gear changes at high revs. It needs some "force" to do that
while revving near red-line. I thought this will not do any good to
the box (and clutch, because you start helping with the clutch) so
I simple change gear earlier, when it still "feels smooth". And I
have no troubles with the transmission so far.
The trouble I have is rust. Both of the bloody doors started
rusting at the lower edges, where the rainwater which is running down
the screens, penetrating the (non-effective) seals is leaving the
interieur of the doors at the bottom. (Excuse my english, I hope
you can picture what I mean). There is nothing I can do about it,
and this will put an end to my doors and probably the car in a year
or two maximum.
Love it, or hate it,
Guenter.
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| Oh, no not double declutching again! You obviously weren't paying attention
Friday lunchtime, but here goes:
How to change down using the double de-clutch method and sustained revs:
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1) Depress clutch with left foot, keep right foot on accellerator, do not ease
off. At this point, your revs start to rise, this
is ok, this is what you want.
2) Move gear lever into neutral.
3) Raise clutch. At this point, the lay shaft in the gearbox is rotating
the wheels, in a very short time it is synchronised with the road
speed.
4) Depress clutch.
5) Move gear lever into gear wanted. Engine now joined to lay shaft and
spinning at the same speed and, theoretically, synchronised with
the road speed.
6) Raise clutch (smoothly!). Hey presto! The wheels, gearbox and engine
are all spinning together.
Notes:
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If you are going to try this out, try it out safely. For example choose a
long straight road with no one behind you when you're in 4th or 3rd.
This only works if you seperate out your braking and gearchanging. (Yes, I
know about heel-and-toe!)
You could do all of the above without the double de-clutch, just keep your
foot on the accelerator as you change down.
Doing it properly enhances smoothness and lengthens the lifetime of all of the
bits involved (driveshafts and clutch, mainly). Doing it wrongly increases
wear and tear.
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